DealerTrack Launches Leads Program for Dealers

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. — At its Innovation Conference in Las Vegas, DealerTrack announced the launch of a new leads program for dealers. The company has introduced DealerTrack Leads Network, which allows dealers to purchase leads at market price.

"We believe the new DealerTrack Leads Network could revolutionize the automotive leads business by giving dealers greater control and reducing the waste of time and money spent on undesirable leads," said Mark O'Neil, chairman and chief executive officer of DealerTrack.

O'Neil went on to explain, "Our Leads Network will be available to DealerTrack users on a pay-as-you-go basis, with no longterm contract or minimum purchasing commitment. The Network enables dealers to view leads from multiple providers all in one convenient place when they log in to DealerTrack. They can set the criteria they choose to screen leads and bid to purchase only the leads they want."

Dealers using the Leads Network can set up customized filters for a variety of factors including location, vehicle make and model and credit status, officials pointed out.

They can also bid on leads automatically based on their detailed specifications and price criteria. To help dealers budget the lead costs, the Leads Network allows the dealer to set daily or monthly expenditure caps, in addition to authorizing only certain members of a dealership's staff to purchase leads.

Once leads are purchased from the Leads Network, they are placed in a new "MyLeads" page, a centralized tool that was designed to offer easy access and management.

Because the Leads Network is fully integrated with the DealerTrack platform, dealers can submit credit applications generated from the leads directly to connected lenders without reentering any customer data, executives noted.

To facilitate its launch of the Leads Network, DealerTrack said it entered into an exclusive and strategic relationship with LeadPoint.

Officials said LeadPoint has successfully introduced online leads exchanges for mortgages and other consumer loans.

"Given its inherent flexibility and economic advantages, combined with our distribution capability, we believe the DealerTrack Leads Network has the potential to fundamentally change how leads are purchased in the automotive industry, enhancing efficiency and profitability for our dealer customers," O'Neil explained.

DealerTrack Honored

In other news, DealerTrack announced it was named to Deloitte's prestigious Technology Fast 50 Program for New York, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, and life sciences companies in the area by Deloitte & Touche USA.

Officials said rankings were based on the percentage revenue growth over five years from 2002 to 2006.

Between 2002 and 2006, DealerTrack's 1,380-percent increase in annual revenue from about $11.7 million to about $173.3 million was driven by the rapid expansion of the company's credit application processing network and the successful addition of new software solutions and services supporting the automotive sales and financing process, executives explained.

"We are honored to be recognized as one of New York's Technology Fast 50 for our strong performance," said O'Neil. "To be recognized by such a prestigious organization as Deloitte as one of the fastest-growing companies in New York is a testament to the efforts of all our employees and our ongoing innovation on behalf of our automotive industry customers."

To qualify for the Technology Fast 50, companies must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 2002 and $5,000,000 in 2006, in addition to being headquartered in North America and owning proprietary technology or intellectual property that contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues or devotes a significant proportion of revenues to the research and development of technology.

DealerTrack noted that it holds three patents for its technology solution. The company is based on Long Island, in the town of Lake Success, NY and was founded in 2001.

Companies from the 16 regional Technology Fast 50 programs in the United States and Canada are automatically entered in Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 program, which ranks North America's top 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications and life sciences companies.

For more on the Innovation Conference, stay tuned to SubPrime Auto Finance News.